Bush Urged to Change Policy Towards Sudan

Sudan urged US president-elect George W. Bush to change US policy towards Sudan, although it appeared sceptical of any change in this policy would mat

Sudan urged US president-elect George W. Bush to change US policy towards Sudan, although it appeared sceptical that any change would materialize.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Gebriel Rorec, in a statement to Saturday's independent as-Sahafa daily, congratulated Bush and his Republican party on winning the election and called upon the president-elect to "take a new political course" and to "abide by full neutrality towards Sudan and its issues."

The Sudanee government has always accused the US of siding with and supporting the rebel Sudan People's Liberation army, which has been fighting successive Khartoum governments since 1983.

Rorec believes that the US policy towards Africa and Sudan is "stable" and is not affected by White House policy. Hence, he concludes that Bush "cannot bring about a new policy that may improve the relations between Khartoum and Washington."

He cited a line of policy adopted by the US State Department during the presidency of George Bush, the president-elect's father, which Rorec said was aimed at isolating Sudan from its neighboring countries by creating problems between Sudan and those neighbors.

However, Rorec said he would not anticipate events, as Bush, the son, "may come with policies that will change the US foreign policy and encourage and enhance the present Sudanese-US dialogue for improvement of the bilateral relations."

The Sudanese official has advised Bush to take lessons from what he termed as "mistakes" by the administration of outgoing President Bill Clinton, "including the mistaken policy towards Sudan" -- KHARTOUM (AFP)